My curl pattern has completely loosened, please help!!

joykat

I moved to London 9 months ago from a soft water area and had major issues with the horrible hard water. My hair went greasy and never felt conditioned and was horrible to touch. I managed to sort most of those issues by using a clarifying shampoo or ACV rinse followed by a deep condition roughly once a week. Looking for solutions to the hard water problems made me look a lot more into how to deal with curly hair than I ever had before. I had been using OGX sulfate free shampoo for years but had never even heard of the CG method or looked at what styling products to avoid. I used to use the umberto giannini curl range, particularly the curl control cream and scrunching jelly. About 2 months ago I had a hair cut by a curly hair salon for the first time and had proper layers cut in the hopes of getting more volume and less triangle! After that I switched to CG friendly products, mainly the Cantu shampoo and conditioner as well as the curl activator cream, usually with the toni&guy curl lock oil.  I still occasionally use a clarifying shampoo or ACV because of the hard water too. I get an oily and flaky scalp so didn't want to switch completely CG and stop using shampoo. 

My hair has never felt so nice, it feels moisturised and light, it never feels weighed down with product....but my curl pattern has changed almost completely. I've switched from fine curls, almost all 3a apart from the occasional wave underneath or at the very back, to almost completely waves round the back of my head, pretty much the only curls I have left are at the very front of my head and the underneath next to my neck. I have no idea what is causing this, I don't know whether it's the hard water or the switch of routine or even the hair cut! It could even be something completely different, I have no idea. I'm renting a flat so can't install a water softening system. I'm considering getting a shower filter that attaches to the shower head to see if it's the hard water. Please can anyone with more experience help me?

Therese1

It sounds like your hair is overconditioned. It could be that your products are just too moisturizing for your hair. It could also be due to the hydrogenated castor oil in the Toni and Guy oil. I have a gel that has castor oil in it, and over time, my hair becomes overly soft and I lose curl. I'm not positive that it's the castor oil doing it, but that is my current theory. Maybe try removing that product from your regimen and see if things improve.

bomega

I live in an area with hard water, and yeah it can be tricky. Here is an article on the Sciency Hair Blog about removing hard water buildup. The tricky part is that the process kinda annoying/goopy and harsh on the hair. In the past, I have used ACV, citric acid and a treatment similar to the Malibu Weekly Demineralizer. The ACV did nothing for my hair but the other two definitely worked. However, it is imperative that you do a full deep treatment (use a serious deep treatment, 20-30 minutes, no skimping on the time) after using citric acid or something like that weekly treatment.

Last year I started using a clarifying shampoo with Tetrasodium EDTA for my 1-2 month sulfate clarifying (just VO5 Normal Shampoo), and it seems to help minimize the hard water build up. I used to have to do one of those treatment every 3-6 months, but now I went about a year before I felt like I had to.

Maybe do a ttreatments, then try using one of those clarifying shampoos every 1-4 weeks, and see how it goes. The Malibu Wellness Hard Water Shampoo would work if your hair like protein...the Bumble and Bumble Sunday Shampoo looks good if it doesn't.

Gretchen

Here're a couple more articles about dealing with hard water. 

How to Beat Hard Water in 3 Easy Steps

How to Prevent Hair Build Up from Hard Water

bomega

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Libby_

With all the moisturizing you have been doing have you tried a protein treatment? Also, depending on how long you will be in that flat, i would definitely consider a water filter if possible to help combat the hard water